


30 Day BenKaru Challenge -- Day 25, Meeting The Parents

by tinynerdlet



Series: 30 Day BenKaru Challenge [25]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Meeting the Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 01:18:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7993306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinynerdlet/pseuds/tinynerdlet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hikaru and Ben leave Ben's parents' home in tense silence. Although Ben doesn't seem to mind the events that occurred, Hikaru is more than frustrated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	30 Day BenKaru Challenge -- Day 25, Meeting The Parents

**Author's Note:**

> [See Story On Tumblr](http://spoopynerdlet.tumblr.com/post/150161490533/day-25-of-benkaru-meeting-the-parents)

From the moment they left Ben’s parents’ home, Ben and Hikaru hadn’t said a word to each other. It wasn’t exhaustion that stole their words, nor fear of being heard in the night veiled city. It was tension. The tightness stiffened their bodies, silenced their voices, and kept an airy wedge between their hands.

The silence stayed until they were back in their apartment over ten minutes later.

Hikaru sat at the dining room table, his eyes firm on the filled mug he nearly cradled in his hands. Steam lifted from the rim. Heat radiated against his fingers and seemed to soak into the synthetic wood table. It didn’t burn his arms, which leaned against the surface. Ben was out of eyesight, but not earshot. He could hear the man in the kitchen nearby. Dishes clattered as they were tossed into the dishwasher. The out-of-rhythm act seemed louder than usual.

“Are they always like that?” Hikaru asked. The clattering stopped.

“Yes,” was the only answer Ben gave. There was a clank, a click, and then water began to run. Hikaru could see his fiance lean against the archway in his peripherals.

“When you said they were rude, I didn’t think…” Hikaru couldn’t finish the sentence. It would make it real, then. The glares, the off-hand comments, the snide remarks – they would become almost tangible, like figures phasing in but still remaining as a shadow.

“Not all parents are the same,” Ben said.

“But they treated you so poorly,” Hikaru replied. He finally looked up from his mug. Ben had his arms crossed but his look was bare, stoic. There wasn’t tears or a furrowed brow or any other indication that Ben was feeling anything at all.

“They’ve always treated me that way.”

“It doesn’t make it right.”

“I never said it did.”

The silence returned. Hikaru settled into it again, almost ready for another ten minutes of quiet tension. His eyes returned to the mug and the green tea growing cool inside it. A sigh broke in. Footsteps came next. A scrape of a chair, then a small thud finished off the sound effect barrage. Ben sat on Hikaru’s left.

“Hiki, they will always be that way,” Ben said, “That’s why I only see them once a year. And that’s why I didn’t take you to meet them until now.”

Ben’s hand fell onto Hikaru’s forearm. Hikaru’s eyes unconsciously flicked over to Ben. A thumb rubbed against Hikaru’s arm as Ben continued to speak.

“You’re protective of me. That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to marry you. I know that you’ll do your best to keep me safe and happy. But you don’t need to protect me from them. What they think of me doesn’t matter that much.”

“Then why go see them?”

“Because I’d feel bad if I didn’t see them at all.”

The silence came back. This time, though, it was easier to sit in, easier to breathe in. Hikaru watched Ben’s face for a moment before his eyes flicked down to the hand settled on his arm.

“You’re a lot more tolerant than I would be,” Hikaru said.

“I was raised that way.”


End file.
